Information for Coordinators

How to nominate students?

Nominating Students 

We would request that you nominate only as many students as specified in our bilateral agreement and, unless there is a prior, mutually agreed alternative arrangement, where the bilateral agreement mentions a stay of one full academic year, this should not be interpreted as two students for a semester each.

Students must indicate from the beginning whether they wish to study here for a full year or just one semester.  

You may find it useful to have a look at the University of Galway fact sheet

Please do not send any nominations to us until you receive an e-mail containing a link from us inviting you to provide your nominations.  We receive very large numbers of nominations with a lot of data.  By observing our procedure, you will help us to (i) ensure that no nominations go astray and (ii) handle your students' details more efficiently.  

 Application Documentation

We now use an online application system for incoming Erasmus students.  Firstly we will invite you to provide the names and details of your nominated students, using a link by e-mail that we will send to the International Offices of our partner universities approximately 2 or 3 months before the application deadline.  Please don't send your nominations until you receive this e-mail and link. 
Then, using the e-mail addresses you have provided for your nominated students, we will send them a link to our online application form.  No paper form will be required.  We will not need copies of passports, national identity cards, motivation letters, etc.  The only document you may need to sign will be your students' learning agreements.

Please inform your students of the importance of completing the online form carefully, and of double-checking all their details before submitting the form –  ensure they provide the correct e-mail address and complete postal address. 

On the application form, a link is provided to a list of University of Galway academic coordinators; students should consult this list to ensure they have the correct academic coordinator. Students must not put the International Office as their academic advisor/coordinator. Students from the Universities of Malta, Uppsala or Utrecht should contact incomingerasmus@universityofgalway.ie.

Please emphasise to your students the importance our application deadlines.  We will close our online system at midnight on the deadline date, so all applications forms must be submitted by then.   There is no facility for late applications.  Completing the application form takes only a few minutes, so we do not anticipate students having difficulty meeting the deadline.

Accompanying Documentation 

We do not need CVs or examination transcripts from students of Humanities/Languages/Business/Law – the application form will suffice, as we will take the coordinator’s nomination as proof of eligibility.

In the Sciences, Engineering, Information Technology and Medicine, however, students will need to provide full details of their academic background, as it will be necessary for the relevant faculty here at University of Galway to review this information in order to ensure that the students have the appropriate knowledge and experience to follow the courses they wish to take.  These students should liaise directly with the appropriate University of Galway Erasmus academic coordinators before the application deadline, as per the instructions they will receive from us when they make their online application.

Visas for non-EU nationals

If some of your students will need a visa to enter Ireland, please bear in mind that the process may take six to eight weeks, visa applications should be made well in advance of arriving for their studies.  They will find useful information on the INIS website.  Should these students require a letter from us for their visa application, we will be happy to  provide this on request.

English Language Proficiency

University of Galway does not require its incoming Erasmus students to present a formal certificate as proof of competency in English.  Nevertheless, it is vital that they have a good command of the language, both written and spoken, so that they will be able to follow lectures, participate in small-group coursework, and write their assignments and exams.  We ask you to nominate only students who have attained the appropriate level of English-language proficiency so as to allow them to follow a course of study here without undue difficulty.  We have seen some visiting students really struggling to keep up with their course work due to poor English skills, and doing very badly in exams as a result.  We recommend a minimum of Level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference, and if you suspect that your students might fall short of this, then we would suggest that you strongly encourage them to take some intensive language classes prior to coming to Galway so as to bring them up to the required level.

Subject choice, Modules, Learning Agreements, ECTS

Until the Visiting Student Handbook for any particular year is published, a signature of an University of Galway staff member on a Learning Agreement represents an approval in principle only, and does not constitute any guarantee that certain courses will be available or that a student will be admitted to a particular course.  We expect up-to-date handbooks to be available (i) in the summer preceding Semester 1 and (ii) in the autumn preceding Semester 2.  (See Courses Available - it is important to note that only certain courses are available to visiting students, so students should base their course selections only on modules listed in the Visiting Student Handbook.) 

Visiting Student Modules in the Discipline of English  

In the case of students of Languages/Philology, please be aware that Linguistics is not one of the predominant research areas in our English Dept, and so the range of courses offered at University of Galway in LINGUISTICS is extremely limited. Prospective students and their coordinators should study carefully the course offerings in the Dept of English so that any potential difficulties in meeting home university credit requirements are identified in advance. 
Please note also that while the Discipline of English at University of Galway offers a wide selection of modules to visiting students, with a sufficient number of seminar- and lecture-based modules available to accommodate all visiting students, seminar-based modules are delivered to small groups of students, so that numbers are limited, and demand sometimes exceeds supply. For this reason we wish to remind coordinators and visiting students that entry to seminar-based modules can never be guaranteed, and that in any case visiting students may only register for one seminar course per semester. Such restrictions will not apply in the case of lecture-based modules. 

Erasmus & University of Galway calendar

EXAMINATION PROCEDURES - Important Information 

The scheduling of examinations at University of Galway differs from that of some of our partner universities.  At University of Galway, Semester 1 examinations normally take place in December and results are usually issued in late January/early February.  Semester 2 examinations normally take place from late April/early May, and results are usually issued in late June/early July.  If students fail a module in either Semester 1 or Semester 2 and wish to take a repeat examination, they should bear in mind that ALL repeat examinations take place in August, and transcripts for these results are issued in September. This means that if one of your students fails a module in either the first or second semester, they will not be able to repeat the module until August.  It is important to keep this in mind for cases where students' progress on their home university programme of studies, or even their graduation, may depend on their securing a pass mark in time for a summer deadline.

Arrival dates, late arrivals, home university examinations 

Please note also that students will be required to be in attendance right from the beginning of the relevant semester, and that new international students are expected to attend Orientation on the Thursday/Friday before teaching starts.  You will find links to the academic dates on our Academic Procedures page. Please bear these in mind when making your nominations. Students who arrive late will miss the all-important first weeks of the semester and thus they will be at a significant disadvantage.  If you anticipate your students being unable to travel to Galway in time, then perhaps they might be best considered for an alternative host university with a later start date.

In particular, when scheduling stays of one single semester, coordinators should compare the academic calendars of both institutions (again, see our academic term dates) in order to ensure that the time-frames are compatible.

We regret that it is not usually possible for University of Galway to arrange for visiting students to sit the examinations of their home university at this institution.  Unfortunately we simply do not have the space or the resources to accommodate requests of this nature, and would kindly ask for your understanding in this matter.

When your students commence their studies in Galway… 

… they may require your assistance in making their final course selection, or may need your advice on credits, suitability of courses, etc.  You should ensure that they are able to contact you (or a colleague) at that time by phone or e-mail.

You may find it useful to consult our Frequently Asked Questions page.  Please feel free to contact us with any other queries. 

Many thanks for your valued cooperation!